Hearing on Plum Island, vote on leash law tonight

The proposed zoning of Plum Island is back up for a public hearing tonight at Southold Town Hall.

The latest revision of the document includes changes to the minimum lot area for the conservation and research districts.

The revised proposal reduces the minimum lot area for the research district from 150 to 125 acres and trims the minimum lot area for the conservation district from 500 to 350 acres.

The draft zoning regulations would divide Plum Island into three districts for research, conservation and a Marine District that would encompass the existing ferry facilities. Last month, the pressure to zone the island was turned up a notch when the final federal recommendation from the U.S. General Services Administration advised selling the land to a private party and suggested building houses on the property.

The recommendation is in direct conflict to the Town’s island-specific zoning regulations that would prevent large-scale development if the island were sold, officials said.

Also tonight, the board is set to vote on a proposed law aiming to regulate dogs on the beach.

The new policy is more than a year in the making. If passed, dogs would be banned from town-owned beaches between May 1 to Oct. 1 from 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Dogs will be allowed to run free on town beaches during the off-season, according to the proposal.

The draft law is less restrictive than the town’s current policy, which prohibits dogs on town beaches at all times.

Once the new policy is in place, the board will work with its police department and bay constables to develop methods of enforcing the code, Town Supervisor Scott Russell said.